"Tie-Dye" Done Simple (Yes, We are tie dying AGAIN)

Of all the ways we have tie-dyed, this has to be the easiest for kids!  Its soo simple and much cheaper than buying actual tie-dye.

Basically, take some permanent markers, draw on a shirt, spray some rubbing alcohol all over it, and wait for it to "tie-dye".  Boom-taw your done (well, other than setting your dye - details at bottom of post)!  I took before and after pictures to show how different sized lines made different designs.

 
Before and After

 
Before and After

If you want the marker on both sides of the shirt, just lay the shirt flat on the table (on paper so it doesn't bleed on the table) and start drawing. Then turn the shirt over, and go over the lines to make them darker.  Spray both sides with alcohol either using a tiny spray bottle or a pipette.

If you want to keep the design in just one spot on the shirt, you can stretch the shirt over the open side of a bowl and put a rubber band around it to keep it in place.  Then spray with alcohol and let dry before removing from bowl.

I also thought it would be cool to tie-dye a shirt the traditional way first in a couple of light color,s and then after it has set, do the marker method over top of it.  Can't wait to try this next time!

To set your design:
After spraying your shirt, let it set for about 6 hours (even though it will dry fairly quickly).  Fill a bucket half with vinegar and half with cold water.  Let your shirt sit in the mixture for 30 minutes, then wash on cold.

Butterflys and Blooms

This week felt like spring had finally arrived.  So to celebrate, we made some pretty pretty butterflies and flowers.  This project is literally the easiest and cheapest project possible, and it turns out soo cute.

Give your little one a coffee filter and some markers and tell them to go crazy.  It doesn't matter how much or how little they color the filter. 

For the butterfly:  Gather the filter up in the middle so that there are two equal sides to the coffee filter and wrap a pipe cleaner around it to form the wings (you actually only need about 1/4 of the pipe cleaner).  Bend the ends of the pipe cleaner to resemble antennea.

For the flower:  I actually used two coffee filters, placing one on top of the other.  On the backside of the filters, gather up the entire middle section.  Wrap a pipe cleaner around it. 

Now for both the butterfly and the flower, you take a spray bottle of water and lightly spray the coffee filters.  The water will cause the colors to make a really cool tie dye type design.  Each project will be soo different and super cute.

Tie Dying for Two Year Olds

I don't know about you, but I LOVE to tie dye.  And because I love it, well, I figured my son would, too.  The problem was how do you give a two year old bottles of permanent dye and let him go crazy in the house??  So, I had to get a little creative (and cross my fingers hoping it would work the way I wanted).  I have painted on paper this way, but never tried this on clothing.  Well, it worked and so now I'm going to share it with you!!

*Mix up your dye using the instructions provided with the package.  When the dye is mixed and ready to go, put the colors in an ice cube tray.  Obviously, you will use a different ice cube hole for each color.  Be sure to not overfill so the colors do not mix. 
*Put the tray in the freezer.  Wait a few minutes and check the cubes.  When they start to get a little bit of freezing on the top, stick toothpicks in each color.  If you add the toothpicks before the cubes start to freeze, they will not stand up straight (and if you do it too late you can't get them in).  After the toothpicks are added, carefully put the tray back in the freezer until the cubes are frozen solid.
*Prepare your area.  I just put a trashbag on the table and put the shirt on top of it. 
*When the cubes are frozen solid, remove them from the tray.  I arranged them on a plate and put them on the trashbag next to the shirt.   

Now your little one can use the cubes (holding them by the toothpicks) to paint the shirt.  Russ had his own little method that he came up with.  He would take each cube and place them on the shirt one by one.  Then, he would take them all off one by one.  He did this multiple times.  The longer the cubes were on the shirt, the more they melted leaving more color. 

We flipped the shirt and he did the other side.  When he had had enough, I had him place what was left of the cubes on the shirt, and I just folded it up inside the trashbag and let it set until the cubes were melted.  About 30 minutes later, we opened the shirt and IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! 

Be sure to check the instructions that came with the dye to see how to rinse and wash the shirt.